The soldier who blew a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas used ChatGPT to plan the attack, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Officials had identified Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, an active-duty Army soldier from Colorado Springs, who drove the truck on New Year, killing himself and causing minor injuries to seven others, NBC reported.
The Clark County coroner had confirmed Livelsberger died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Use Of ChatGPT In Vegas Blast
Clark County/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Livelsberger used ChatGPT to learn how to carry out his plan, calling it a "game changer."
"We knew that AI was going to change the game at some point or another in all of our lives," McMahill said. "Certainly, I think this is the first incident on US soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device to learn information all across the country as they're moving forward."
Livelsberger queried the AI chatbot about building explosives, determining the necessary firing speed to detonate them (rather than just cause a fire), and circumventing laws to obtain materials, according to NBC.
"This new information comes with more questions than answers. I will not provide an opinion on what the documents mean, nor will we release information or documents that have not been completely verified" by agency investigators, along with the FBI and ATF -the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, McMahill said, CNN reported.
Authorities confirmed that Livelsberger used a bomb in the explosion and that they recovered a six-page manifesto from his cell phone, which is currently under investigation. However, they did not disclose what specific information ChatGPT provided in response to his queries about explosives, firearms, and anonymously obtaining a cell phone.
Officials also showed video of Livelsberger retrieving a can of racing fuel from the back of the Cybertruck and dousing the vehicle's explosive compartment.
OpenAI Expresses Regret
The incident has renewed concerns about the potential for AI to be used for harmful purposes.
ChatGPT's creator, OpenAI, expressed sadness that its technology was used in the attack and reiterated its commitment to responsible AI development, stating its models are designed to refuse harmful instructions.
"In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities," the company said in a statement
The authorities also stated that Livelsberger harbored no animosity toward U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, attributing his actions to post-traumatic stress disorder.
When asked if law enforcement should have been aware of Livelsberger's ChatGPT queries, McMahill said he wasn't sure if AI usage tracking was possible.
The FBI had clarified that there was no connection between the Cybertruck explosion and a separate truck attack in New Orleans that caused multiple fatalities.
Originally published on Latin Times
